LitPDX seeks to amplify marginalized voices, and welcomes all, their ideas, their events, and their words.

For details regarding specific events please contact the organizers or venues. If you are an organizer or venue and would like to reach out to us please feel free to contact us or submit an event using our submission form. We’d love to hear from you!

electric lit

  1. Events
  2. electric lit

Events Search and Views Navigation

Event Views Navigation

Today

Submission Roulette II, an Electric Literature virtual salon presented by Mount Saint Mary’s University

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

What goes through an editor’s mind when they read the first lines of your story? What can you do right away to hook them and keep them turning pages? Which tired moves make them groan and lose interest fast? One of our most exciting salon events is back by popular demand! Recommended Reading editors Halimah Marcus and Brandon Taylor return to edit your anonymous first pages, submitted just for this event. They will read each page for the first time live on screen, sharing their immediate reactions as they go. Here’s what previous attendees said about this event: “Immediately planning to rewrite all my first pages.” “Live impressions are true-to-life and that's why this session has been so uniquely valuable.” “10/10 would pay for more of…

Continue readingSubmission Roulette II, an Electric Literature virtual salon presented by Mount Saint Mary’s University
$10

How to Pitch and Edit an Anthology, an Electric Literature virtual salon presented by Mount Saint Mary’s University

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

tHave you ever dreamed of editing your own anthology? Even if you haven’t, should you? Join our panel of veteran anthology editors to learn how to develop an idea for an anthology, pitch it to publishers, solicit and edit work from writers, and pull together a finished book that unites a range of talented voices, all digging deep into a topic you are passionate about. We’ll also address how writers can get their work included in such anthologies. Whether you already have an idea for an anthology or you’re wondering if this publishing pathway might be right for you, bring your curiosity and your questions to this event. Audience Q&A to follow. Sari Botton, editor of Goodbye To All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving…

Continue readingHow to Pitch and Edit an Anthology, an Electric Literature virtual salon presented by Mount Saint Mary’s University
$10

How to Get a Literary Agent

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Sarah Bowlin, Aevitas Creative Kirby Kim, Janklow and Nesbit Renée Jarvis, Triangle House Literary agents are the publishing professionals whose job is to be in an author’s corner, to champion their work and find it the best home and negotiate the strongest deals. So, how do you research hundreds of agents to find ones who would be the best fit for your creative visions? How do you query them to demonstrate that you are a perfect addition to their list? Once you’ve signed with an agent, what will your professional relationship look like? What are the reasons an author-agent relationship might end, and what should you do next? Join our panel of seasoned literary agents to learn about all about the process, from the early…

Continue readingHow to Get a Literary Agent
$10

Everyone’s a Critic

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Whether it’s the role of take-downs, accusations of smarm, writers rebutting their reviews, or the daily Twitter discourse, the role of criticism in our culture is complex, ever-changing, and seemingly always up for debate. The tools of criticism are evolving, too. Goodreads, Substack, and social media remove critics from an ivory tower and allow anyone to assume the mantle. New Yorker staff writer and former New York Times book critic Parul Seghal, New York Times film critic A.O. Scott, and novelist-cum-critic Brandon Taylor will discuss these topics as well as their own pursuits of critical honesty and excellence. Moderated by Halimah Marcus. Their discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A. This event is part of Electric Lit’s Fall 2021 series, presented by Mount Saint…

Continue readingEveryone’s a Critic
$10

Steel Yourself Before You Reveal Yourself

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

A good journalist reports the story, but never becomes the story. But as essayists and non-fiction writers, we're not journalists. Sometimes our lives are, in fact, the story. What does it mean to write about ourselves and our lives, and then, to publish that writing? What does it mean when people read that writing, and discuss it—and us—publicly, as well as privately? Alexander Chee (How To Write an Autobiographical Novel), Morgan Jerkins (This May Be My Undoing), and Joseph Osmundson (Virology, forthcoming 2022) will discuss the choice to write about ourselves and dive into the public discourse as both writer and subject, and how to prepare for the unique scrutiny that comes with essay, memoir, and autobiographical writing. They will also offer tools to help…

Continue readingSteel Yourself Before You Reveal Yourself
$10

Pitch Roulette

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

What goes through an editor’s mind when they read a pitch? What turns them off, and what grabs their interest? One of our most popular salons is back with a twist: Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris and Executive Director Halimah Marcus will review your anonymous pitches, submitted just for this event. They will read each pitch for the first time live on screen, sharing their immediate reactions as they go. Your pitch may even be commissioned for Electric Lit! Submission instructions: You can find the link to submit in the chat, on the right hand side of the event page. (Please note, you will only see the chat if you are registered for the event.) If you are unable to find the submission portal or have questions…

Continue readingPitch Roulette
$10

Overcoming Rejection for Writers

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Jami Attenberg Deesha Philyaw Tommy Pico Moderated by Denne Michele Norris Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned pro, all writers face rejection—but how we cope with that rejection plays a huge role in shaping our literary future. Rebounding can be tough, but rather than allowing rejection to stop us in our tracks, we can reframe it into a motivational and instructional tool. Some rejections actually make us stronger—as writers, editors, applicants, and people—while others just need to be ignored. Poet and TV writer Tommy Pico (JUNK, Reservation Dogs), memoirist Jami Attenberg (I Came All This Way to Meet You), and award-winning short story writer Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) will share…

Continue readingOvercoming Rejection for Writers
$10

Busting Myths About Parenting and Writing

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Claire Vaye Watkins Kaitlyn Greenidge Matthew Salesses Moderated by Kelly Luce Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference The idea that parenthood is a barrier to art creation is outdated, even dangerous—that we create in spite of having children rather than making complex work productively informed by parenthood in all its glory, sorrow, and ambivalence. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought parenting issues to the forefront of the national conversation, and the result has been that the discussions around parenthood specific to writing have evolved, too. Novelists Claire Vaye Watkins (I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness), Kaitlyn Greenidge (Libertie), and novelist and essayist Matthew Salesses (Craft in the Real World) will talk about the struggles, triumphs, stereotypes, and assumptions of writing as parents…

Continue readingBusting Myths About Parenting and Writing
$10

How to Pitch Electric Lit: Updated with Our New Editors!

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Denne Michele Norris Michelle Chikaonda Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference Writing an essay, opinion piece, or feature doesn’t start with the first sentence. You have talent and a compelling idea, but how can you get an editor to pay attention? A pitch is the writer’s chance to package their work so that it catches an editor’s eye. In this conversation, Denne Michele Norris, Electric Literature's editor-in-chief, and Michelle Chikaonda, contributing editor, will answer some key questions so you can take your idea from successful pitch to published piece. We’ll discuss things like what makes a good pitch, common mistakes and misconceptions, and why Electric Lit even asks for pitches in the first place. This event is an update to our previous…

Continue readingHow to Pitch Electric Lit: Updated with Our New Editors!
$10

Submission Roulette III

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

FEATURING: Halimah Marcus Alyssa Songsiridej Sponsored by GrubStreet's Muse & the Marketplace conference Tired of opaque form rejections that offer zero insights into why your submission “wasn’t a fit” or “doesn’t meet our publication’s needs”? Then join Submission Roulette III for, finally, some candid answers. Recommended Reading editors Halimah Marcus and Alyssa Songsiridej will review your anonymously submitted first pages, reading them for the first time live on screen, and share their immediate reactions as they go. What leads an editor to pass after just a few paragraphs, and what entices them to keep reading? And, since the chat has been so lively during past roulettes, we’ve added a fun new twist: we’ll all drink (or hydrate with a non-alcoholic beverage) every time we spot…

Continue readingSubmission Roulette III
$10
Click a category label below to view the calendar with only events in that specific category.